In a video released on Thursday, Al Qaeda activist Abu Yahya al Libi has said Taliban leader Mohammed Omar personally leads the battles in Afghanistan, reports The Blotter, abcnews.com's blogzine.

The 17-minute video titled 'Combat not compromise', has al Libi saying, 'I stress, I swear to God, Omar is leading the battles himself.'

The video is produced by Al Sahab, Al Qaeda's media production company, to mark Omar al Faruq who was killed by British forces in Iraq in September. It was recorded in the month of Ramzan, and has English subtitles.

It has al Libi posing against bushy terrain in a mountainous area, and praising al Faruq alongside whom he fought in Bosnia, the Philippines and Indonesia. The two had escaped from Bagram prison in July 2005.

In his message, al Libi exhorts the mujahideen to continue fighting and not to be discouraged by setbacks. 'Be firm and steadfast, the signs of victory have started to appear everywhere,' he says. 'Your primary enemy has admitted that going to Iraq was a wrong decision.'

Similarly, he says, the United States will discover that the measures in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel were also mistakes.